Don’t be fooled by the guns and the explosion – it’s been madeclear to us over the course of this review that The Club isn’t actuallya third person shooter at all. Really, it’s a very cleverly disguisedbeat-em-up; Tekken with all the regular moves left out and justthe special combos remaining. The whole game feels like Soul Calibur in the twenty-firstcentury and the proof is in the short character biographies, thecombo-centric gameplay and the booming voice that yells “Finn!Fight!” at the start of every round.Unfortunately, like most beat-em-ups, The Club is also alove-it-or-hate-it affair and it doesn’t surprise me to hear that thedevelopers refer to it as ‘The Marmite Game’. The experience playershave with The Club depends more on the gamers themselves thanthe game and, just as some people love Virtua Fighter but hate Deador Alive, so too will players of The Club become divided. Personally, I can see the game isn’t for me – the forced practice andrepetition of levels in order to get high scores and an unequalledlevel of perfection just doesn’t interest me. I can still see theappeal and craftsmanship in the game though and the level of polish onsome of the levels is truly extraordinary.If practice makes perfect is your motto and you love honing your skillsto a razor edge then The Club could be the best investment you make all year. If you’rethe type of gamer to learn all the cool combos in Soul Caliburor you can manual forever in the latest Tony Hawk’sthen this is the game for you – it’s complex, but approachable and agreat proving ground for your skills and memory. On the other hand, ifyou prefer games that you only need play once or with stories thatoccupy more than the head of a matchstick, then you may want to give TheClub a miss. It’s not a bad game by any measure – but it isn’t foreveryone.